DJ Ritz Harper used every trick in the book to become a
media darling in Drama Is Her Middle Name, shock-jock
Wendy Williams's expos� of a life she knows better than
anyone. Playing a clever trick of her own, Williams left her
heroine on the brink of death at the end of the novel. Now
the second installment of the chronicles reveals what
Williams's readers are dying to know: Is the Bitch Dead,
or What?

The drive-by shooting that brought her down forces Ritz to
look back on her climb to the top and the people she loved,
lost, used, and abused along the way. There's the brief
dalliance with Tracee, her best friend, and the romance with
a man with some secrets of his own; the loss of her beloved
Aunt M; and the recent appearance of the father who
abandoned her and is now demanding a financial payoff and
fifteen minutes of fame. At the heart of it all is Ritz's
need to figure out where the real-life Ritz ends and the
radio bitch begins.

For the huge audience hooked on The Wendy Williams
Experience and readers itching to find out what happens
to the over-the-top star of Drama Is Her Middle Name, Is
the Bitch Dead, or What? is packed with all the
irresistible shocks and insider dish that make Williams the
hottest voice in America today.

Tavis Smiley grew up in a family of thirteen in a small
trailer in Indiana, where money was scarce and the sight of
other black faces even scarcer. One of only a few African
American kids in his high school, he grew up feeling like an
outsider because of his race, his Pentecostal religious
beliefs, and his family's poverty. At home, the trust and
support he felt from his family was shattered when his
father, in a moment of rage, beat him with an electrical
cord, sending him to the hospital. Placed in foster care for
a time, it took Tavis years to bridge the emotional chasm
between him and his parents.

Throughout his childhood, however, Smiley possessed an inner
drive to succeed. His remarkable speaking ability made him
an oratorical champion in Indiana and offered him a pathway
to a different world. Determined to fight for the underdog
and for African American rights, he entered the political
arena, moving to Los Angeles to work in mayor Tom Bradley's
administration, and later ran for a seat on the city
council. After losing the election, he embarked on his
career as a radio commentator, discovering that it was an
ideal way to influence public discourse on the issues of the
day. Now a broadcast star, he remains committed to bettering
the lives of all Americans; he's especially acclaimed for
his work on behalf of people of color and the
underprivileged.

A moving, deeply honest self-portrait of one of America's
most popular media figures, WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE will appeal
to readers of every color and political persuasion.

March 27 (change in date for this one month) Hattie McDaniel:
Black Ambition, White Hollywood by
Jill Watts

Hattie McDaniel is perhaps best known for her
performance as Mammy, the sassy foil to Scarlett O'Hara
in Gone With the Wind, one of Hollywood's most revered
-- and controversial -- films. McDaniel's Oscar win
raised hopes that the entertainment industry was finally
ready to create more respectful, multidimensional roles
for blacks. But under the aegis of studio heads eager to
please Southerners, screenwriters kept churning out
roles that denigrated the African-American experience.

Where McDaniel's stature and popularity should have
increased after Selznick's masterpiece came out, as was
the case for her white counterparts, hers declined, as
an increasingly politicized black audience turned
against her. "I'd rather play a maid than be a maid," is
how McDaniel answered her critics. Yet her flippant
response belied a woman whose hardscrabble background
rendered her emotionally conflicted about the roles she
accepted. Here, at last, in a finely tuned biography by
Jill Watts, is her story.

Watts, a highly praised researcher and writer, shares
little-known aspects of McDaniel's life, from her
dealings with Hollywood's power brokers and black
political organizations to her successful civil rights
battle to integrate a Los Angeles neighborhood,
revealing a woman hailed by Ebony as an achiever of
"more firsts in Hollywood" than any other black
entertainer of her time.

In this candid spiritual memoir, legendary actor
Sidney Poitier reflects on life itself as he reveals the
spiritual depth, passion, and intellectual fervor that
has driven his remarkable life. Poitier credits his
childhood of poverty on idyllic Cat Island in the
Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of
self-worth, family values, and simple ethics that he has
never since surrendered and that have dramatically
shaped his world.

Just a few years after his introduction to indoor
plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke countless
barriers to launch a pioneering career portraying
important, dignified characters in some of the most
morally significant films of the late 20th century.
Drawing on his personal journey, Poitier explores such
themes as sacrifice and commitment, pride and humility,
rage and survival, and paying the price for artistic
integrity. His engaging memoir spans a time in history
from Jim Crow segregation through the early Civil Rights
conflicts to present-day cultural struggles and
spiritual seeking. Poitier shares his provocative
thoughts on racism in Hollywood, consumerism and the
media, child-rearing, illness and mortality, honoring a
higher consciousness, and realizing how fully a part of
"the grand scheme" each of us is. This book is a
powerful testament to the rewards of being true to one's
self, acting passionately on one's convictions, and
boldly walking on the edge.

About The Newark Literacy Campaign, Inc. founded in 1984, leads
literacy programs for adults, children and families and is the coordinating
agency for literacy services in the City of Newark. The mission of the NLC is to
empower anyone who seeks to overcome low literacy by providing free instruction
in reading and to support their learning with meaningful literacy services.

The NLC Adult Literacy Program has served Newark and its surrounding communities
for twenty-two years. Based at the main branch of The Newark Public Library, 5
Washington Street, Newark, the program empowers anyone who seeks to overcome low
literacy by providing free instruction in reading. Highly qualified instructors
lead classes, train volunteer tutors and provide guidance to learners.

NLC Programs for Children and Youth address the serious issue of the ability of
Newark's schoolchildren to graduate from high school and prepare emotionally and
academically for college by providing intensive tutoring in the early grades.
Our holistic approach promotes a culture where academic success is valued,
expected and supported.

The Prenatal Health Literacy Project is a collaboration with UMDNJ's Ob/Gyn
Clinic. There, we help low literacy mothers-to-be to complete the often daunting
paperwork involved in obtaining appropriate healthcare. Through health literacy
classes, expectant mothers become more knowledgeable about the importance of
prenatal healthcare and are more likely to keep their appointments at the
clinic.

As the Coordinating Literacy Agency for the City of Newark, the NLC works with
the Newark One-Stop Center, a facility of Newark's Workforce Investment Board,
to conduct literacy assessments, refer clients to the appropriate agencies, and
provide basic skills classes to Newark's One-Stop clients.